Exploring unknown territory - Valsa Concerto no. 2

Dette indlæg på dansk

I have been procrastinating quite a bit on these pages when it comes to the Valsa Concerto no. 2, but today, I found the guts to sit down in front of a camera, and give it a go. It was found in a second hand book store by the pianist Amaral Vieira as late as in 1995, and was written in 1904 - well before the movements, that were later published as Suite Populaire Bresilienne. This makes the piece the earliest guitar composition by Villa Lobos that we know of, and most likely the earliest one we will ever come to know. It does bear the number 2, and as such, there must have been a number one, but finding that one after all these years would require an unbelieveable amount of luck and crazy coincidence! In one of his recollections of the first meeting with Segovia, Villa Lobos says, as Turibio Santos writes it, that Segovia talked on this occasion about a certain pre-existing knowledge of Villa Lobos, in that Miguel Llobet has played a waltz by Lobos. If this is the waltz in question we will never know. It might as well have been numer one, or a completely different one. It is however not unlikely, that Llobet would have liked the waltz; it is quite charming music, even though not as well-written as later works. One thing, that I would like to believe Villa Lobos would have done differently, had he wirtten or revised the piece at a later date, is to let the second theme of the waltz, in the parrallel key of c sharp minor, play a little longer, and develop some more, as this, to me, is some of the strongest writing of the piece...

To those, who would like to know such details, the manuscript is, as I have mentioned, incomplete. Luckily, it is easy to explain where the manuscript finishes, and Zigantes reconstruction begins. More or less midway, there is a large cadence ending on a series of harmonics - that is the place! The a minor section that follows, and the bit that differs from the first theme, and concludes the reprise, is by Zigante. I haven't been able to find many versions of this piece, and as such, there has not been much to be inspired by - or appalled by! One version does however stand out - the one by Humberto Amorim, who has done his own reconstruction of the missing part. I very much like this approach to incomplete pieces - to try and figure out on your own, what the missing bit might have been, but I am well aware of the limits of my own abilites as a composer, and I will not subject others to them, certainly not right next to Heitor Villa Lobos - not even a young one! So I will stick with Zigante, as his version works well.

There are mistakes being played in the video - loud and obvious ones too - but feel free to enjoy, what is worth enjoying, and consider the rest... an experience. Here is my rendition of Valsa Concerto no. 2, the way it sounded on this day in history.

Valsa Concerto no. 2 from Thomas Lyng Poulsen on Vimeo.

På ukendt grund - Valsa Concerto no. 2

This Post in English

Så nåede jeg dertil, hvor jeg turde sætte mig foran et kamera med Valsa Concerto no. 2... Valsen blev fundet i en antikvarboghandel af pianisten Amaral Vieira så sent som i 1995, og er skrevet i 1904 - altså før satserne, der senere blev udgivet som Suite Populaire Bresilienne. Dermed er satsen det tidligste guitarværk fra Villa-Lobos' hånd vi kender, og sandsynligvis kommer til at kende. Den er godt nok betitlet nummer 2, men der skal vist mere end almindeligt held til, før nummer 1 dukker op. Villa Lobos fortæller, ifølge Turibio Santos, i én af sine genfortællinger af det første møde med Segovia, at Segovia ved denne lejlighed fortæller, at han kender lidt til Villa Lobos i forvejen gennem en vals, skrevet til Miguel Llobet. Om der er tale om nærværende vals, om nummer 1, eller om en helt tredje vides ikke, men man kan da forestille sig, at Llobet ikke har været helt afvisende overfor at spille en vals som denne, der da bestemt ikke er ueffen, omend den ikke føles og fremstår gennemarbejdet i samme omfang som de værker Villa Lobos lod udgive i sin levetid. F.eks. får temaet i stykkets paralleltoneart cis-mol ikke rigtigt lov at blive udforsket før der går skala-cirkus i det hele. Det forekommer mig ærgerligt, da det efter min mening er ét af de stærkeste øjeblikke i satsen.

For interessede kan nævnes, at manuskriptet som nævnt i tidligere indlæg er ukomplet - heldigvis er det nemt at forklare hvor det stopper - det er nemlig lige på den store kadence med flageoletterne cirka midtvejs. Det efterfølgende tema i a-mol er Fredéric Zigantes værk ligesom afrundingen af den efterfølgende reprise af hovedtemaet er det. Jeg er ikke stødt på mange versioner af denne vals, så i modsætning til de øvrige satser har jeg ikke kunnet lytte til en bunke fortolkninger, og lade mig inspirere eller afskrække deraf. Jeg har dog ud over Zigantes version fundet en anden, hvor guitaristen Humberto Amorim selv har begået den manglende a-mol-del og afrunding af stykket. Jeg er dog bevidst nok om rækkevidden af egne kompositoriske evner til, at afholde mig fra at kaste mig over at færdiggøre satsen selv! Så hellere holde mig til Zigante, som jeg synes fungerer udmærket.

Der bliver spillet fejl i videoen - men det bliver gjort med overbevisning, så nyd det, der er værd at nyde, og tag resten som en oplevelse. Her er min version af Valsa Concerto no. 2, som den kunne blive, netop i dag.

Valsa Concerto no. 2 from Thomas Lyng Poulsen on Vimeo.